Just Hold On
by Lulu.cat13
Summary: Evie and Bo Pratt seem to be having trouble holding on to people in their lives. When their parents are turned in to flesh eating monsters, they travel to Atlanta to be with their Grandmother, if she is still herself. They run in to a group of survivor along the way. Will they be able to hold on to these people or will they lose them too? Daryl/OC
1. The Beginning Of The End

**Hey everyone! Thanks for reading. This is my first attempt to do a Walking Dead story, so it's probably going to be a little shaky. Please review! CONSTRUCTIVE critisism is always appreciated ^.^ **

**Love ya!**

**Lulu~**

* * *

"Just hold on, Evie. Just hold on." A young man ran at full speed through the forest. He carried his sister, who was moaning in pain, on his back. The only sounds in the forest were his sister's soft groans, his rhythmic panting, and the patter of his sneakers on the grassy carpet of the forest.

"Bo, Bo please hurry!" Evie squinted her dark eyes in pain and buried her face in her brother's back, tightening her arms around him with every passing minute. Her brown curls bounced with every step Bo took. The two were exhausted from being attack by a hoard of Eaters. Evie and Bo were chased into a tree stand that belonged to some hunters. Apparently they were still there because moments later two drooling snapping camouflaged Eaters staggered out of the shadows. Startled, Evie fell off of the stand, attempting to land on her feet, but failing miserably. She leaned up against a tree and sliced through the Eaters with her _katana_. The constant pain she felt in her leg was radiating throughout her entire body. Her head pounded with the rhythm of Bo's feet. She groaned again.

"It's ok, Evie. I'm gonna make sure you're safe, I promise." Bo panted as he ran faster. Luckily, he was on the cross country team in college. He was use to running long distances, but the extra weight was killing him. Just a little farther and he could rest.

"Bo! Stop!" Evie pleaded from his back. Bo slowed to a stop, putting his hands on his knees. His lungs felt like they would spontaneously combust at any second. He sat Evie on an old stump and fell back against the plush forest floor. "Leave me here." Bo jolted up and stared at his sister as if she had grown a second head that spoke French. "Just, listen. All of this dead weight is just slowing you down. If you can run faster, maybe you can find some help. Plus, all of this bouncing around is just making my ankle hurt worse. Please, Bo."

Bo furrowed his eyebrows, considering her suggestion. Evie was pretty strong. If he left her there, he'd only be gone and hour or so. After mulling over all of the variables in the situation, the young man pulled himself up and stood over his sister. "Take the Katana. I'll be gone for an hour; not a minute longer. Be safe." He grabbed the back of her head and pushed her forehead against his lips. She nodded and tugged her katana out of the pile of backpacks. Bo grabbed his rifle and canteen. "I'll be back soon, Evie."

Evie sat with her hands on her _katana_ in fighting position. Why had she told Bo to leave again? She had unsheathed her katana the second he left. Every little noise made her the hair on the back of her neck stand up. The fear in her system peaked a little higher every time she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye or breathed too loudly.

"Ok,Evie, think of something else. Puppies, kittens, little unicorns sliding down rainbows. Rainbows that have flesh-eating, moaning dead people at the end." She whispered to herself. She reached down to the ankle of her pants leg, rolling her blue jeans up and unlacing her boot a bit. Purple, blue swollen flesh greeted her eyes as she unlaced her hiking boots. "It's broken." Her voice surprised her as she assessed the wound. Feeling hopelessness crash down upon her, she wiped the dirt and sweat off of her down-cast face. They had come so far, and now she was slowing them down with her inability to walk.

She and Bo had made their way from Huntsville, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia. They had a grandmother living in a nursing home there and once their parents died in the attacks, they had no other family. Yea, it was weird, but so was the dead walking around. Every day she thought about the first night of the attacks. The twenty-year-old twins used to live with their parents and go to the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Evie was a Psychology major, while Bo was a Biology major. Bo was walking Evie home from the school's library when Evie noticed a girl that was in one of her classes following them at a slow pace. Every time they turned a corner, she would turn the corner some seconds later. She finally stopped to confront the girl. _"Is something wrong, Abigail?" Evie asked worriedly. Abigail staggered toward the pair at an antagonizing slow pace. Evie walked briskly toward her and put her hands on the girl's biceps. Evie looked back at Bo with a questioning look on her face. Bo shrugged at her. Suddenly, Bo's face changed completely. It was a like a shock wave ran through his body. "Evie watch out!"_

_Crunch_

Evie jerked her head toward the sound of the branch snapping under something heavy.

"Well lookie what we got here." A rough voice came from behind her. She titled her head back to see the owner of the voice, when a blow of pain coursed from her head to her toes. She looked at the man's scruffy face as she blacked out. A small amount of panic reared up as she saw the indifference in his eyes.

* * *

Bo staggered toward the voices he heard just in front of him. He had been gone for about twenty minutes. His pace became irregular and now he was just trying to put one foot in front of the other. The heat of the day and his growing fatigue were wearing him down fast. With every step, he uttered a plea of "help". He tore for anything that was in his reach that would propel him forward. He grabbed something soft, when he realized that he was holding the elbow of a petite woman. She was screaming her head off by the look of her face, which he really didn't blame her for, I mean, he must have looked like a monster with his tattered white t-shirt and dirtied, blood covered skin, but the only thing that Bo could hear was his own wore out voice pleading for her to help. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by men with guns. Bo fell forward once the woman pried his hand off of her arm. His arms were too weak to hold him up. He was rolled on to his side by one of the men.

"Please, help me." Bo repeated over and over again until he finally passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

Merle laughed his way back to camp. He found a girl with two fully stocked backpacks and a sword in the woods. He flung the girl over his shoulder with her backpacks and carried the sword in his hand. He decided that the girl looked pretty decent and that the things in the packs were supplies for himself and his brother. If there were two things the camp was running low on, he thought, it was pretty girls and supplies. He ran his hand over his shaved head. This was gonna be fun.

"Hey Darylina, get yer ass out here and take a gander at what I found!" He called out as he approached his tent. Merle shifted the girl on his shoulder and peeked inside the tent. Looks like he was still out hunting. Merle walked around to the front of the camp and saw everyone standing around in a big circle. A man with curly, black hair hidden under a POLICE hat stood in the middle, looking at something on the ground.

"What the hell is everybody doin'?" Merle hollered as neared the circle. He saw a young man laying on the ground and kicked his foot with his boot. "Where'd you find this queer?"

"He just staggered up to camp. He kept saying that he needed help, then he passed out." Shane said, not taking his eyes off of the boy.

"Well, I found this tasty piece a' ass in the woods while I was huntin'. Let's add her to the collection." Merle grunted as he roughly tossed Evie off of his shoulder to the ground.

"Easy, Merle!" Shane stood up and walked over to the girl. Her blue jeans and grey tank top were dirty and wore with holes. Her bangs were matted with blood from a fresh wound. Shane's eyes grazed over her from head to toe, stopping at her purple ankle. "She's hurt pretty bad."

"Bo.." Evie stirred from her involuntary slumber. Groaning from the pain of her eyes adjusting, she sat up slowly and gazed at the people around her. Her dark brown eyes scanned their faces and landed on the person nearest her, Shane. Reaching her hand up gradually, Evie grazed Shane's cheek with her fingertips. "Am I dreaming?"

Shane took her hand gently in his palm. "No, you're not, darlin'. I'm Shane. You're in our survivor camp." Hope. That was the only thing that Evie could think of. Bo and herself were going to survive and.. Bo. Where was her brother? Evie looked at all the people standing around her and not one of them was her brother.

"Did Bo ask you to come get me?" she asked worriedly. Shane gave her an odd look then turned to the boy beside him, "Him?"

Evie's eyes softened from worry to complete tranquility, well, as tranquil you can get in an apocalyptic world. She let out a sigh of relief and lay her head back on the ground.

"Ahem."

Evie shifted her eyes to a man wearing a white hat. He looked old enough to be a grandpa. His white hair faded to grey in his beard, while his eyes glittered with genuine concern for the two new additions to the camp.

"Your ankle looks pretty bad. Let's move you into the RV and we'll see what we can do about it." Dale glanced worriedly from her ankle back to her face. Evie pushed herself back up on her forearms and nodded in agreement. This was going to hurt..

Dale moved his head to look around the campsite. "Anyone know how to set a bone?"

"I popped a couple bones back in place." A rough voice called from the tree line. Evie got somewhat worried when everyone looked like Sweeny Todd had just offered to cut her hair.

"'ey there, Darylina! Get yer white ass over here and get an eye full!" Merle called over his shoulder. A tanned, muscular man walked over into Evie's line of vision. He put a bunch of squirrels and other woodland creatures on the ground beside the campfire and moseyed over to the population of the camp congregated around these two strangers. Evie bit her lip to keep from smiling. He was really attractive; gorgeous blue eyes, sandy hair, strong-looking arms, tan skin. He looked down at her ankle, then stooped down to examine it. "Take yer pants off."


	2. Redneck Doctor

**Hey friends. I am sooo excited about you guys liking my story! Thank you everyone who reviewed! You guys are the best. Well... here we go!**

**Love you guys!**

**Lulu~**

* * *

When someone of the opposite sex tells you to take your pants off, that person is either drunk or kidding. Evie stared straight into this redneck's eyes and saw nothing but complete seriousness. Good thing Bo was unconscious or he would have had a cow.

"Uh.." was the only intelligible thing that escaped Evie's lips. She looked around the camp's residents to see if this was some kind of joke. No one was laughing.

"Oh, it'll be ok." A woman with long black hair stepped out of the crowd and crouched down to meet Evie. "Andrea and myself will help you. We'll get you some shorts or something to put on instead." A blonde woman stepped up and joined the black haired woman.

"I'm Andrea. This is Lori. We'll take good care of you. Shane, pick her up and put her on the bed in the RV, would ya?" Andrea walked behind Evie and there was a squeak of a door opening. The POLICE hat guy, Shane, nodded and put his hands on Evie's back and the crook of her legs.

"Don't worry. I gotcha." He winked. Evie threw her arms around his neck and blushed. She was so happy that Bo wasn't awake. The bed of the RV was soft and inviting compared to the hard ground that Bo and Evie had forced themselves to sleep on for the past few weeks. Andrea and Lori helped her remove her britches carefully. They only touched her ankle once and it took her a few minutes to return to a state of not cursing so they could continue. Evie gritted her teeth when they pulled the shorts up over her thighs and buttoned them around her hips. Her mind was in hyper drive thinking about the pain she was about to go through. Now she wished Bo was awake.

"Ready, girl." The redneck popped his knuckles as he walked to the back of the RV. He stopped when he saw the young woman laying on the small bed. The intensity of his stare made Evie squirm a little bit. His blue eyes raked over her body. "Give 'er a towel to bite down on. This is gonna hurt like a bitch."

Dale inched his way to Evie with a folded wash cloth. "Come on, dear. Daryl will be quick, right Daryl?" Dale's question was greeted with a grunt and a shrug. Evie whimpered. She bit down on the cloth with force, waiting for the torture to begin. Daryl put his large hands on either side of her ankle, trying to see which way he'd have to push it. His touch made Evie jump.

"Calm down, girl. I ain't done nothin' yet." Daryl growled at his patient. "Now, I'm gonna count to three. When I get to three, I'm gonna pull yer ankle down and push it back up to where it belongs with the other bone. Got it?" Evie squeezed her eyes shut and nodded sharply. "Alright. One-"

Evie's screams were muffled by the wash cloth as Daryl pulled her ankle down and pushed it to the right. Tears flooded down her face as she gritted her teeth and pounded her fists on the bed.

"You said three, you bastard! You said three!" Evie cursed at him, spitting the cloth out of her mouth. She gripped the sheets of the bed and sobbed from the mixture of pain that radiated through her body. Daryl shrugged his shoulders and made his way to the front of the RV. "I lied." He called back, which earned a loud groan from Evie. Before exiting the camper, Daryl turned to Dale, "Yer gonna need a splint on that. It'll heal up straight." With that, Daryl the redneck doctor bounded down the steps of the RV and went off to skin and gut the squirrels he caught that day.

"We have to get her some pain medication. That poor girl can't take much more." Dale said to Andrea in a low voice. He took a glance at Evie, who was now laying motionless on the bed. Her breathing was even, but hitched every now and then. "Evie?" Dale scooted over to her and put his hand on her sweating forehead, stroking her hair out of her face. Despite the stimulation, she didn't move at all.

"I think she's just passed out from the pain. Daryl's right, we need a splint and some medication for her." Andrea ran her hand through her hair and sighed audibly. "We gotta make a run to Atlanta."

* * *

"Come on, man." Shane breathed as he tried to wake Bo up. He slapped his softly on the cheek and called his name over and over. "Bo! Come on wake up, man!"

"Shane, move out of the way!" a young voice called out. Shane jumped back as water flew through the air and landed right on Bo, who jolted up immediately.

"Evie? Evie!" Bo looked around frantically. His eyes caught Shane before he leapt to his feet and grabbed his t-shirt collar. "My sister! She's out in the woods with a broken ankle! We have to help her! You gotta come with me! Eaters are gonna get her! Come on!"

"Bo, Bo! Calm down!" Shane yelled as he pried Bo's fingers out of the material of his shirt and pushed the younger man to the ground. "Your sister's here. She's in the RV. They had to fix her ankle." Shane pointed to the RV as Bo scrambled to his feet. Looking him up and down, Shane sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before pulling his hat over it. "Let's get you some dry clothes and you can see your sister."

The young boy that threw the water approached Shane and grinned up at him. The older man smiled down at him and ruffled this hair. "Where'd you learn to do that, Carl?"

Carl shrugged and held the bucket to his chest, "Saw it on TV once."

* * *

When Bo finally got to see his twin, she was out cold. Shane had let him borrow a shirt and some pants. Even though he was well built, Bo wasn't as bulky as Shane, so they hung on his shoulders and hips loosely. The boy twin sat on a bench beside the bed and held his sister's hand.

"Come on, Evie. You're gonna be ok. Show me those brown eyes." His voice spread out evenly over her.

"Hey, Bo." Dale's voice came from beside Bo. "I brought you some water. You were pretty dehydrated when you crawled up to camp. Drink this and I'll get you some more." Bo gratefully took the cup from Dale's hand and drank it greedily. He hadn't had any water all day and, in the Georgia heat, that was a dangerous thing. It wasn't cold, but it was water and he thanked Dale for it. The old man took the cup out of his hands and went out to fetch more.

"We found people, Evie. We're gonna make it." Bo's thumb grazed the back of Evie's hand as he whispered to her. "We're gonna make it."

"Hey, Glenn."

An Asian guy about Evie and Bo's age lifted his head from the firewood pile as Shane called his name. "Yea?" Glenn called back, walking toward the leader of the camp.

"We need you to make a run to Atlanta to get some medical supplies. Take T-Dog with you so you'll have some back up this time." Shane said as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, motioning to a large African American man bringing pieces of firewood to the pile. Glenn wiped the sweat off of his face and nodded.

"Oh, and take Merle's truck." With that, Shane walked back to the RV, leaving T-Dog and Glenn to fend for themselves. Glenn looked at T-Dog warily.

"Paper, rock, scissors to see who has to ask Merle?"

* * *

**Please review and tell me what you think!** **When you review my story, you get a double gold star and a rainbow sticker. Just sayin'...**


	3. Finders Keepers

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry that it's taken so long to update. I'm rehearsing for a play at night and babysitting by day. It's a weird Batman type situation. Anydangway, I sincerely hope you like it and please review and leave comments on how I can make it better or if I have some glaring grammatical issues or something. **

**Have fun!**

**Lulu~**

* * *

"_Ok, Evie, you hide and I'll count to ten, then I'll come find you." Bo grinned widely and pushed his sister away from the tree he was counting on. "Go hide!"Evie ran as fast her six-year-old legs would carry her away from her brother. _

"_One!"_

_Evie's heart raced as she searched the wooded back yard for a prime hiding spot. She tried out several trees, deciding that all of them were too easy to spot._

"_Two!"_

_Evie swung her head side to side, her long hair swishing from side to side, looking for a bush or a small dent in the side of a mound to hide in._

"_Three!"_

_A rush of adrenaline spurred her to run faster and farther away from her brother._

"_Four!"_

_The little girl huffed as she ducked behind a wide tree. This, she thought, was the perfect hiding spot. Her brother's voice was far away now, but it's not like she couldn't find her way back._

"_Five!"_

_Evie peaked out from behind the tree, looking for her brother, when she heard a rustle behind her. "Bo, you cheater! I'm telling Mama-" Evie whirled around to yell at her brother, only to be met by a large, rotting man. His skin was falling off of his face and blood seeped from his mouth and nose. He lumbered toward the girl, swiping his claw-like fingers at her._

"_Six!"_

_Evie turned quickly, ready to sprint to her twin, but the infected man clasped on to one of her pigtails._

"_Seven!"_

"_Bo!" Evie screamed, pulling as hard as she could at her long braid._

"_Eight!"_

_The man reeled her in by her long hair. Once she was in his hands, he picked her up off of the ground._

"_Nine!"_

_Evie screamed and cried as the decaying man turned her upside down. His fingers rapped themselves around her ankle as she fought him, punching his shins and kicking her feet wildly. He raised her tender flesh to his teeth and sunk his broken teeth into it, ripping tendons and muscles as he went. Evie screamed in pain and fear. "Bo!"_

"_Ten!"_

Evie shot up from her horizontal position from the bed and shrieked. Someone grabbed her flailing arms and pinned them to her side. The harder they pushed, the harder she fought.

"Let go! Help! Bo!" Her eyes were shut tight, not wanting to face the decomposing mess that was grasping her.

"Evie! Evie stop! We're putting a splint on your ankle. You're not in any danger. Evie!" A calm voice tried to reassure her, but Evie couldn't hear over the pounding of her heart in her ears. Her mind raced with adrenaline.

"Help! Bo!" Evie struggled against the person, trying to break free and run away.

"Evie stop. You'll dislocate your ankle again! Open your eyes, Evie." The voice sounded urgent as its firm grasp tightened. Evie stopped moving at once. She recognized the voice. Dale. Her eyes flew open and adjusted to the light immediately.

"Dale.." she breathed. The old man smiled at her and nodded his head.

"It's ok, Evie." He said as he pulled her body to his in a gentle hug. The woman wrapped her shaking arms around the man slowly as he stroked her hair and shushed her crying. She felt the concern radiating from his being. This was what she missed. She missed the human compassion from a parents and friends. Sure, she had her brother, but he was just like her. They were constant companions, so she just saw him as a continuation of herself.

"Thank you, Dale." She gathered herself after a few moments and laid her head back on the bed.

* * *

It had been weeks since the survivors found Bo and Evie. Since her leg was out of commission, Evie mostly sat on a log by one of the campfire sites and skinned the animals that Daryl and Merle brought back from their long treks in the forest. Bo gathered firewood with Glenn. It was a drastic change of pace from their usual hunt and survive, run and defend, but it was a welcomed change.

"Here girl." Daryl, who hadn't said much to her since he repaired her, tossed a string of squirrels to her. Evie reached over and grabbed the heap, which landed a little away from her, then looked up and huffed at Daryl.

"Stop calling me 'girl'. I'm twenty years old. I'm a sophomore in college."

Daryl glanced back at her. "Sorry, girl."

"Hey, Daryl." Evie called to him. He turned around all the way and crossed his arms. "I just wanted to say thank you. Thanks for fixing my ankle. If you ever need anything, just ask. I owe you one." Daryl considered her words for a moment, then opened his mouth to say something, but was cut short by his brother.

"Hey, Darylina. Get yer ass over here an' help me- hey." Merle sauntered over to the campfire site Evie was sitting at. "You flirtin' with the girl?" He slapped Daryl on the back and bent down to eye level with the woman, who's reaction was to turn her head away immediately. He grabbed her jaw and brought her face to his. "Hey, girl. Don't you waste yer time with Darylina. He ain't even got a dick. You want a real man? I'll show ya somethin' real." Evie pushed him to no avail while he reached down to his zipper.

"Fuck you!" She clawed at his hand around her face. Her eyes shot over to Daryl. His face held a painful wince. He looked like he wanted to help, but was being held back by something. She wanted to yell for him, but her brain couldn't get any more words out.

"Hey man." T-Dog walked up to the scene carrying a bucket that probably had water in it. "Somethin' goin' on here?" He put the bucket down and stood over Evie and Merle. Merle stood up and looked at T-Dog.

"Nah, man. We good, dawg." Merle said. He was an expert at making fun of everyone. T-Dog didn't even wince at being teased by the redneck. He picked Evie up and turned her around to face him.

"Come on, Eve. Why don't you go in the RV and cool down a while?" He patted her shoulder. She nodded and ducked her head, hobbling away. She turned her head and looked straight at Daryl with a disappointed frown that made him shift his weight from one foot to the other and glance at the ground.

"That big nigger ain't gonna be around to help you all the time, girl." Merle called out to her. Evie shivered at the thought of what that man had the capacity to do, but she knew there was a small light of hope, knowing what Daryl had the capacity to do, also. Turning on one heel, Evie narrowed her eyes at the oldest Dixon brother.

"Don't call him that."

* * *

"Eve Margarette Pratt." Bo looked at his sister, flabbergasted. "You are probably the most badass girl I've ever known. You broke your ankle and still killed Eaters. Do you know how many of those things you've killed? You've faced policemen, army men, a mime. I mean, what's different about Merle Dixon? "

Evie shifted on the bench uncomfortably. Suddenly, the little RV kitchen table was closing in on her, pinning her to the seat. "Bo, you don't understand. Those Eaters, they can't help it. Sure, they try to eat us, but really, it's just for survival. Merle, he knows exactly what he's doing."

"I know what she means." Dale interjected, sitting on the bench beside Evie. "He hunts for the group, but what he does to those animals is cruel. Daryl shoots them with his crossbow, but look at the animals that Merle brings back sometime."

Bo narrowed his eyes and pushed himself from the table. He briskly walked outside into the night air. He braced himself as he approached the pile of squirrels that belonged to Merle. Merle liked to keep his and Daryl's squirrels in a separate pile, so he could compare at the end of the day and call Daryl a pussy for not having as many as he did. Bo picked up a small rabbit and examined it. No holes, no cuts. He rolled it over in his hands and the rabbit's head fell at a strange angle. The revelation made Bo drop the little animal on shock. Its' neck was broken, strangled.

"Ya know, queer." A familiar gruff voice came from behind him. "It's the best way ta kill one a them. See the lights leave their eyes. An' that squeal. Feels good." Bo turned around to face the man.

"Stay away from my sister."

Merle scratched his stubbled chin and laughed. "Well, I found 'er in the woods. How's that sayin' go? Finders keepers?"

Bo grabbed the collar of the man's shirt. "You don't own her."

"Hey, what's goin' on?" Shane said cautiously as he approached the two men. He locked his eyes with Bo's.

"I don't know, Officer. I think the queer's missin' his boyfriend an' he's tryin' to cop a feel."

Bo pushed Merle away from him. "You come near my family again, and I'll kill you, you sick bastard."

"Go to the RV, Bo." Shane patted the young man on the back and pushed him gently toward the direction of the RV. Merle watched him walk away and called out behind him.

"Finders keepers!"

* * *

**So there you have it. I hope you liked it and I'll try and update it really soon. Please review! Oh yea, and _Leyshla Gisel_ and _Emberka-2012, _thank you so much for reviewing the last chapter! You both get rainbow stickers. Well, metaphorical rainbow stickers. College students can't afford postage. Love you guys!**


	4. A Hunting We Will Go

**Hey guys! This chapter is a little longer and there's more information to take in, but you really get a good look at Bo. Also, Evie and Daryl get a little closer. I really hope you like it and please, if you're so inclined, review and tell me what you think. Oh yea, and thanks so much for all the followers! I'm flattered. ^.^**

**Love you guys!**

**Lulu~**

* * *

"Hey queer. You and that Chinaman bumpin' uglies or what?"

Bo rolled his eyes and looked over to Glenn. "About how many times am I gonna have to tell him I'm not gay before he stops calling me that?" Glenn grinned over at his friend.

"About as many times as it takes for me to tell him I'm Korean."

Bo and Glenn had become fast friend. Since both hated college, they had a lot to bond over. Glenn liked having someone his age around to talk to. Dale and T-Dog were cool and all, but he needed someone that was reasonably like himself. At the moment, a group of them were headed into Atlanta. They were making a supplies run.

The pavement glared at them. The hot sun flickered in the clouded sky. Bo shifted his eyes around as they entered the city. The road going out of the city was completely packed with abandoned cars and bodies, but the road entering the city was totally clear. Bo rolled down his car window and allowed the wind to lick at his face. Glenn sighed in relief from the fresh air invading the car.

"How much farther?" an impatient Andrea grumbled from the middle seat of the back of the car. Glenn's fingers twitched as she spoke. He hated taking so many people into the city. Jacqui, Morales, Merle, Andrea, T-Dog, and Bo tagged along with him.

"Not much farther." Glenn spoke quietly and motioned for Bo to roll up his window as they drove deeper into the city. Each of them had their orders. At the top of Bo's list were medical supplies. Evie's ankle was still hurting her some and he needed to take care of her. To Bo, taking care of Evie was the one thing keeping him from going completely insane. She kept him anchored to the real world—or the world that existed now.

"That building." Glenn pointed as the car stopped. At the end of his finger was a tall glimmering building. The sign above the door declared proudly that it used to be a department store. "That's where we meet in one hour."

* * *

The hot Georgia sun beat down brutally on Evie's shoulders as she practiced her defense. Hopefully Bo wasn't as tired as she was already.

Silent swishes sounded as Evie swung her _katana_. As she continued her attack on the invisible assailants, she faltered only twice. Her ankle seemed to stiffen with every twist of her body. When the pain became too intense, she would take a deep breath and think about her attacks.

"One, two, three, four." Evie spoke in rhythm as she recounted her grandfather's teaching. "_It's not a toy, Evie. Mean what you do." _His voice rang clear in her mind. Evie smiled as her thoughts drifted to her late grandfather.

Her Caucasian mother was adopted by two Japanese-Americans. Whenever she visited their home, her grandfather would pull her into his lap and tell her that, even though she was not one by blood, she had the spirit of a Japanese warrior, a Samurai. Bo never cared much for them, but Evie adored her Japanese grandparents.

As she sheathed her sword and headed back to the main camp, she stretched out her ankle. It was healing quicker than she expected. Maybe Daryl really did know what he was doing when he pushed her bones back together.

"Whatcha doing out there, Samurai Jack?" Amy called over to her from one of the clothes lines. Evie looked over to her and smiled.

"Oh, just brushing up. It's been a while." Evie palmed the hilt of her sword. "You need some help, Amy?"

"Could always use the company. I'm going crazy waiting for Andrea." The younger blonde pulled clothes pins out of a bucket and clipped a shirt on the line. Evie leaned her sword up against a tree and made her way toward Amy. She usually hated housework, but in this case, it made her feel normal; and technically, they weren't in a house.

After hanging up Amy and Andrea's laundry, she sat down to rest, watching Lori and Carol teach their children. Poor kids, it was the end of the world and they still had to go to school.

"Hey girl."

Evie tilted her head to see her very own redneck savior standing at the opening of his tent.

"You know how ta hunt?"

* * *

Bo lowered his shoulders as he crept through the abandoned pharmacy. It was a good thing he had emptied his backpack before he left, because the supplies were quickly filling it back up. Pain relievers, fever reducers, antihistamines, bandages, Neosporin. He had stayed awake long enough in his health class in high school to know what to get.

His feet turned as not to step on any broken glass or spilled medications. "_Listen to the things around you." _He tried to recall the crap his Oriental grandfather had attempted to teach him. Bo hated going to visit his grandparents. Evie loved learning about the history and blah blah blah, but all Bo ever got to do was help his grandmother make sushi. He shivered at the thought.

He licked his lips as his brown eyes circled the room. Feeling his stomach bottom out, the scene started to remind him of the night Evie and he left their apartment.

_He sprinted to the drawer in the kitchen where the medications were stored. He didn't have much time before his family would be on the move. He ripped the drawer out of the counter and dumped the contents into his backpack._

"_Bo.." Evie whimpered behind him. "Something's wrong with Daddy."_

_Bo whipped around to see his twin clutching a half zipped pack. It was filled to the brim with things they would need, with her sleeping mat and blanket attached to the bottom. Her brown eyes were clouded with tears as she pointed to their parent's bedroom. Nodding, Bo's shoulder grazed her as he moved abreast past her._

_As he entered the room, he saw his father was laying on the bed, tearing at the sheets. His fever had heightened since he was bitten by a raving lunatic that had the same symptoms as Evie's friend Abigail. Bo's mother was sitting on the other side of the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. After a few minutes, his father stopped moving completely._

"_Ryan? Ryan?" Bo's mother asked once she could collect her voice. Her hands trembled as she reached over to her husband's face and stroked his cheek. Tears slid down her face as she called his name softly. Her grey eyes closed as she felt her heart drop from her chest._

"_M-Mama.." Bo whispered. He looked at his father unbelievingly. This man, who was once dead, had come back to life. The eyes of the man were different from the deep brown that he usually wore. The man drew a quick breath and looked at his mother. _

"_Ryan? Ryan! It's me, Katherine! Ryan!" Bo's mother laid her head down on the man's chest, not caring about the blood and sweat on his shirt. His father's hand came up and stroked his mother's hair. Bo sat back and raked his fingers through his hair. His smile was breaking through to his face, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. He watched the scene as it played out between his parents. _

"_Nnnnmm." His father gurgled. Bo's smile faded fast when he realized that his father wasn't stroking his mother's hair. He was pulling it. Bo stood up so fast that it knocked over the bedside table. Before he could pull his mother away, the older man pulled his wife up by her hair and bit into her scalp._

_Bo's and his mother's screams mixed together as Ryan feasted on his wife's skull. When she stopped struggling and noticed that she was dead, Ryan pushed his wife off of him and lifted himself from the bed, staring straight at his son. In surprise, the younger man fell back, tripping over the table he had knocked over moments before. Responding to the sounds, a snarling Ryan lunged at his son. Bo shut his eyes quickly and waited for the bite, but it never came. The only sounds his ears could pick up were a slight swishing sound and a sickening, wet slice, then another._

_When he opened his eyes, his sister was standing on top of their parents' bed holding their late grandfather's Japanese sword and his father's and mother's bodies scattered about the room. She barely lifted her eyes as she shook the blood from the sword and sheathed it. _

"_We need to leave now, brother."_

Bo shook his head, trying to Etch-a-sketch away the memory. Evie never talked about what happened that night. Well, once when they were spending the night in an abandoned van, sharing their last Gatorade and Snickers Bar, she made him promise that they would never bring it up. He didn't fight her; he didn't want to remember it either.

A sharp crack made him jolt up and peer around. He shook his head when he noticed that he had only stepped on a piece of glass and broke it straight down the middle. He crouched down and looked at himself in the shards. His reflection was split right down the middle. Bo's eyes followed the crack, then took the entire image in. His face was distorted on one side of the divide and normal on the other. The distorted side was savage, something that didn't suit him. He pushed the two pieces apart and stood erect. Maybe it was time to get back to the others.

* * *

Daryl watched Evie move ahead of him. Everything about her posture screamed that she had done this a million times before. Her shoulders were low, her steps were purposeful, and her eyes were focused on things that shifted around her. It had been hours since they started their hunt, and she was getting less sharp and tired. He could tell.

"Come on, girl. Let's take a break." He leaned his back against a tree and slid down it. Evie wiped the sweat from her arm, leaving a brown mud trail to from her elbow to her wrist. She removed her sword from her back and dropped herself to the ground.

"Where'd you learn ta hunt?" Daryl asked, staring at her weary face. "Yer pretty good."

"Taught myself." She said, staring back at him. "Me and Bo ran out of food a few days after it all started. We had to eat something."

They sat in silence for a while, staring at each other and collecting their breath.

"How'd you and Merle get here anyway? You guys are pretty independent." Evie asked, breaking the short silence.

"We needed supplies. We ran outta water an' Shane's people had it." Daryl's eyes shot up to the trees, watching the birds build their nests. Evie nodded and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"You know, you're not like him, Daryl. Your brother's a bully; a cruel son of a bitch. You're not."

Daryl glared at Evie, drawing his lips into a thin line. "What the hell do you know, girl? Merle's the only family I got. We're stickin' together." Daryl jerked himself up from the ground and winced in pain. He rolled his shoulder and rubbed his sore muscle. "Damn it."

"I can help you." Evie glance up at him. She pushed up from the ground and walked to him cautiously. Her hand reached up to his shoulder as her eyes asked him if she could continue. After a second, he nodded tentatively. As her hand moved across the cloth of his tank top, he sucked in air sharply. "Calm down, Daryl. I don't bite." She pressed her fingers into his back and moved them in a circular pattern. When her fingers got tired, she rolled her palms on his back. He groaned as the pressure dug deeper into his back. His head fell forward and his eyes closed and she moved up to his neck. As soon as he felt her warm skin on his neck, he reached up and grabbed her hand. "Daryl?"

He turned around still holding her hand. A blush snuck its way to Evie's cheek as his face neared hers. Her breathing hitched when his warm breath brushed her lips. As he moved toward her, she stepped back, pinning her against the tree that Daryl occupied earlier.

"_That's mine, little brother. Find yer own." _Merle's voice echoed in Daryl's mind, causing him to falter. He pushed the brunette away from him and snatched his crossbow off the ground.

"Let's go girl. Break's over." He grunted as he stalked away, leaving behind a confused and breathless Evie.

* * *

The small group gathered together in the department store, plus one more person. Glenn saved a Police officer, who thought it was a good idea to pop off a few rounds in his gun and draw every Eater from here to kingdom come to right in front of the store.

"I oughta shoot you right now." Andrea pushed the guy against a table and shoved a gun in his face. Morales rushed to Andrea's side.

"Back the hell off Andrea."

Bo put his hand over Andrea's and pushed it down to her side. "Come on, New Guy. Wanna see what you did?"

The group led him to the front of the store, where Eaters were attempting to break down the first set of glass doors that led to the outside.

"We were trying to scavenge for supplies, do you know the key to scavenging? Being quick and quiet. You just drew every Geek in the area to the front of the store."

The sound of gun shots sounded from the roof. Andrea's head snapped up.

"Was that, Dixon?"

The hair on the back of Bo's neck stood up as he realized that the danger of their situation was rising with every shot Merle took. He sprinted to the stairs to the roof with the rest of the group at his heels. He yanked open the door, seeing Merle pointing his gun over the ledge of the roof.

"What do you think you're doing?" Bo gritted his teeth and pushed Merle away from the ledge.

"You oughta have more respect fer someone with a gun. It's just common sence." Merle knocked Bo on his back as T-Dog walked over to Merle and tried to calm him down.

"Come on, man. Geeks are all over this place. You're just drawing more here."

"Ain't no way I'm takin' orders from you. First I got this taco bender on my ass and now you. That'll be the day when I start takin' orders from you." Merle glared over at T-Dog.

That was the beginning of the end. Merle's temper flared. He stared hitting people, punching the new guy in the nose, and pinning T-Dog to the ground. The commotion ended when new guy Rick cuffed Merle to a pipe.

"Come on guys. Let's talk about this." Merle's pleas fell on deaf ears. The group was busy talking about a way to get out of the city. Rick's eyes become distant when Andrea said that the Eaters could tell us apart by smell. This led to about the stupidest plan that could have ever been imagined by man. The crew went to the basement and dragged one of the Eater's body's inside. The smell of rotting flesh filled the room as Rick cracked the body open with a sledge hammer. The idea was to mask the two humans with the stink of the Eaters, or Walkers, as Rick called them.

"We'll be back." Rick nodded as he and Glenn staggered out of iron door.

* * *

Evie elbowed Daryl softly in the side as she spotted another fat rabbit. The man nodded and pulled her down lower to the ground. His arms steadied as he lifted his crossbow to fire at the creature. As the arrow penetrated the little animal, it let out a small squeak, then passed on. Evie's heart broke a little bit each time she had to kill a small animal, but the truth was that they had to eat. Instead of getting upset about it, she'd say a little prayer, asking forgiveness from it.

"Looks good." Daryl commented, ripping his arrow from the gut of the creature. He picked it up by the ears and showed it to the younger woman.

"Oh yea. Awesome." Evie replied, trying to keep her gag reflex at bay. She gazed over at Daryl while he gazed at her. For a moment, her dark brown eyes locked with his piercing blue. He shifted on his feet uncomfortably.

"Let's, uh, keep goin'."

"They made it back!" T-Dog yelled to Bo, who stood on the roof watching the hundreds of Walkers stumbling away from the building. A sharp alarm was bouncing off of the emptied skyscrapers. Someone drove by in a cherry red Mustang. Bo whistled at the car.

"Nice."

"Come on, Bo! We gotta get down to the loading dock!" T-Dog patted Bo's shoulder as he ran past him.

"Wait! Wait! Help me! Guys!" Merle cried from the ground. T-Dog turned around and fumbled with the handcuff key. A small clink sounded as he dropped it near a drain pipe. T-Dog looked at the pipe and back at Merle, then ran to the door. Merle's eyes flooded with panic.

"Hey! Hey, Bo! Come on man, let's put the past behind us. Help me out, brother!"

Bo walked calmly over to the small key. In a smooth motion he bent over and snatched up the small metal object.

"Bo! You found it! Come on ova' here and uncuff me!" Merle struggled against the cuff as hope rose in his voice.

Suddenly, it was all so clear to Bo. His reflection in the mirror. He was discovering a side of himself that he had to be now. He had to be savage. He had to be vicious. At this moment, this is who he needed to be. For his sister, for the camp, for their survival. He rolled the key over and over in his fingers, then cut his eyes over to Merle.

"How does that saying go? Finders keepers?"

Merle's face dropped as he screamed out in horror. "You son a' bitch! I hope you rot in hell! I knew you weren't nothin' but a dirty faggot!"

T-Dog reappeared in the doorway and looked pleadingly over at his friend.

"Bo! Come on man!"

Bo briskly walked over to the door without another look at Merle and closed the door behind him. T-Dog looked from the stairs and over to the door a couple of times before wrapping a chain around the handle of the door and a pipe that was adjacent to it. When he was sure it was sturdy, he turned back to his friend and caught sight of the contents of his hand.

"What's that, man?"

Bo stuffed his hand in his pocket and turned away from T-Dog. "It's nothing. Let's go before they leave us."

The two men flew down the stairs, stopping momentarily to gawk at the Walkers trying to break through the glass doors.

"Guys!" They heard a yell from far away that brought them back to reality. Their feet started back up again as they ran to the loading dock and barely made it to the moving truck.

"Where's Merle?"

An awkward silence fell over the group as they looked at each other understandingly.

"The key was dropped." Bo stated. He drew his knees up, placing his elbows on them and his head in his hands.

"No one's going to kick up a fuss about it." Morales explained to Rick. "Well, no one except Daryl."

Rick looked over at the man and sighed. "Who's Daryl?"

"His brother."

As if taking a cue, Glenn raced by them, pumping his fist out the window and hollering at the top of his lungs, not caring about the loud ringing that emanated from the vehicle.

"Well, at least somebody's having a good day."

* * *

**Phew! I told you it was longer than the others! I hope you enjoyed it and favorited it and followed it and favorited me and followed me! Well, um, you don't have to do all that. I just wanted you to have a good time. Anyway, I'll post again soon. I promise!**


	5. A Bit Chilly Out Tonight

**Hey guys. I hope you guys like this chapter. I've poured my blood, sweat, and tears into this one. Well, maybe not. Just enjoy it, ok? I know this one's kind of dry, but it's important. Thanks to everyone who is following the story. You make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. **

**Love you guys!**

**Lulu~**

* * *

As night fell on the heavy Georgia forest, the temperature dropped as well. Evie shivered underneath her light green t-shirt as she looked over at Daryl, who was ripping his arrow out of a squirrel.

"Let's bunk down here for the night. We'll jus' be trippin' over ourselves in the dark." Daryl said as he put the deceased little animal on the string with the rest of his catch. His eyes didn't even glance at his counterpart as he laid his crossbow on the ground and leaned his back against a tree. After a moment, he looked over at the shivering Evie. "Damn girl, ain't you come prepared?"

"W-well, next t-time y-ou ask m-me t-t-to come hu-unting, I-I'll r-rem-member to br-bring my w-winter wardrobe." Evie glared over at the man and rubbed her hands over her biceps. Daryl chuckled and stared at her for a minute.

"Come 'ere, girl." His hand moved in a boisterous motion as he coaxed the young woman to him. Gathering her strength and muscle control, Evie nodded and crawled on her hands and knees toward Daryl. If she wasn't shivering beyond control and her teeth weren't chattering, this would have been the sexiest thing she'd ever done. Damn the cold. When she reached her destination, her arms wrapped around his waist, soaking up every drop of heat he could provide. "Wait a minute."

Daryl pushed her away and pulled his tanktop off over his head. "Take off yer shirt."

Evie rolled her eyes then looked skeptically her hunting partner. "You kn-know Daryl. Y-You should re-really put th-the explanation before th-the demand."

Daryl's forehead creased as he stared at her. "Huh?"

Knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere, Evie shook her head and slowly lifted her shirt up and off. "Nothing."

"Look, the more skin we can get together on our bodies, we'll be warmer." Evie snapped her head to Daryl.

"I'm not taking my bra off, Dixon."

The man shrugged. "Suit yerself." Evie put her arms around Daryl once more and was greeted with warmth. It wasn't like being wrapped in a big, fluffy blanket, but it was more warmth than she had in her own body. Her head lowered itself to his chest, wishing that it was a pillow. His arms snaked around the top of her back, pulling her to his body more.

"G'night."

Evie smiled and closed her eyes. "Good night."

* * *

Bo sat on the top of the RV looking at the moon that rose over the camp. The events of the night played over in his mind. Rick was actually Carl's dad and Lori's husband. Too bad for Rick that Lori had been screwing Shane at least since he and Evie had gotten there.

Bo shook his head, trying to clear all the thoughts from it. Even if he could shake the others, he couldn't get rid of one thing. He couldn't rid himself of the fact that he'd willingly left Merle on the roof of a building that was surrounded by Walkers. His hand moved to his pocket. Bo stared at the object he pulled out. A little silver key. His fingers rolled it over between themselves.

"Couldn't sleep, Bo?" a familiar voice climbed to the top of the van. Bo didn't have to turn his head to know that it was Dale checking on him. The younger man continued to stare at the reminder of his wrong-doing.

"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned."

Dale let out a chuckled and patted Bo on the back. "What is this sin, my child?" Bo sighed and lifted his head to the moon. His blood sped up in his veins as he held up the trinket to Dale's eye level. "What's that, Bo? A key?" Dale reached out, took the object, and squinted his eyes at it. "What's this?"

"I found it and didn't use it. He begged me and I walked away from that stupid redneck." Bo laughed at himself as he raked his fingers through his hair and held his head in his hands. His lean frame trembled as he confessed to his friend. Dale looked from the key to Bo. "I killed someone, Dale."

"Bo." Dale began his sentence then stopped. He collected his thoughts and began again. "Bo, he was hurting your sister. He was a danger to the entire camp. He-"

"Dale. I'm not looking for you to tell me what I did was right, or justify it for me. I just needed to tell someone." Bo looked over to his friend. Dale nodded and grabbed Bo's hand.

"Let's just keep this to ourselves, shall we?" The older man placed the key in Bo's hand and closed it around it. Bo nodded and put his hand over Dale's.

"Thanks, Dale."

* * *

Evie snuggled her head against her pillow and reached down to pull her sleeping bag over her shoulders. As her hand moved further down her body to feel the soft fabric of her blanket, her fingertips brushed another kind of fabric. Blue jean fabric. Her eyes shot open and looked around at the sunlight streaming through the tall trees. She was in the woods for some reason, but she couldn't remember how she had gotten there. As she attempted to stretch her arms, something tightened around her waist.

"Stop movin', girl."

Her hands ran over the body that was next to hers while she looked up to see its face. Daryl. Then her memories came rushing back into the front of her mind. She had gone hunting with Daryl while Bo and the others were in Atlanta. Evie sat up quickly. Bo!

"Daryl, get up! Bo's probably back at camp."

She pulled her shirt on over her chilled skin and stood up. "Daryl! Come on." Daryl grunted as she pulled his arm.

"Alright. Alright."

A soft crack made them stop talking and moving all together. Daryl pulled Evie down by the arm as he put his fingers over his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. Evie nodded then turned her head to the side, looking at what had Daryl's attention. It was a doe. Evie had been taught that you don't kill doe, only buck, but in a fight for survival, it was every mammal for itself. The huntsman reached for his crossbow and aimed it straight at the defenseless doe. He fired an arrow and struck it in the side, which made it squeal in pain and gallop away.

"Damn it." Daryl spit. "Son of a bitch."

With that, Evie understood that she was definitely not getting back to camp any time soon.

* * *

Bo woke up in a cold sweat, panting from his horrific dream. He dreamt of Merle and what he would do to his sister and himself when he found them.

"Evie?" his voice barely came out as a whisper. He rolled over to put his mind as ease that she was still safe, only she wasn't in her place. She must have been with Daryl. Daryl, the thought of him made Bo's stomach lurch. His eyes moved over to his backpack where he stored his little secret. He could feel his sun kissed skin whiten. Fear pricked its way up his spine into his brain. What would Daryl do?

Hours later when the camp was buzzing with life, Bo journeyed outside his tent to join it. The first thing he noticed was Glenn's Mustang being picked clean for spare parts.

"Look at them. Vultures." Glenn moped as Bo approached him. Bo sighed and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Don't look, man. It's just too painful."

Glenn shook his head. "It hurts less when you watch. Just like a shot or getting your arm ripped off." The Asian dropped his forehead to his palm.

"Don't worry," Rick wandered up to the younger men in a shirt that Bo had lent him. His face cracked into a smile as he watched the men working. "Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Bo grinned at the older man.

"Yep, a cop wants to steal cars with me. It's the end of the world."

Rick was about to respond when a scream halted their conversation. The men trotted into the woods only to see a Walker chowing down on a deer that had arrows sticking out of it every which way. Bo groaned in disgusted when the Walker's head was severed from its body.

"Damn it!" a curse flew from the woods and startled the group. Daryl immerged from the trees and examined his kill. "Been trackin' that doe fer miles. Think we can cut around the bite mark?"

Shane shook his head, "Don't think that's a good idea." Daryl's temper flared as he kicked the body of the offending Walker.

"Fucking son of a bitch!"

"Well, looks like we just wasted an entire morning." Evie sighed as she walked toward the assembly of survivors. Her eyes circled around until she met her brother's . "Bo." Her smile grew as she stepped around the deer and crashed into her brother. She wrapped her arms around the middle of his stomach, but backed off when she felt him weakly hug her back. "What's wrong?"

His eyes avoided her gaze as he replied. "Nothing. Why would anything be wrong?" Evie pulled away from her brother and stared at him.

"Bo Colton Pratt, you tell me what's wrong right now." Bo shook his head and grabbed Evie's arm, pulling her away from the group.

"Come on Evie."

Daryl ignored the scene and stalked toward the camp. "Hey Merle! Come on, get yer ass out here! Merle!" Rick and Shane looked at each other and jogged toward Daryl.

"Hey Daryl. What up a minute." Daryl reluctantly turned and looked at Shane.

"What?" Shane took his hat off and kicked some rock in the dirt.

"There, uh, somethin' happened in Atlanta. Merle, uh." Daryl's face didn't change at all. His voice came out steady as a rock.

"He dead?"

* * *

**Reviews are most appreciated, my good fellows. Really, they are. It helps the author know that they're not just sending their stories out into cyberspace for no one to read. So, if you could, just send in a little review to every story that you read. The author will love it and you'll feel good about yourself. Like giving a puppy a treat; you'll feel good that the puppy is all jumping around and happy, and the puppy will feel like it's doing a good job.**

**Anyway, enough preaching. I really hope you guys enjoyed it. The next chapter will be a bit quicker pace. I promise. Have a nice day!**


	6. Batteries Included

**Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews. **

_**Emberka-2012: **_**I see what you mean, but Bo did leave Merle on the roof to die and that's, you know, wrong. But, he believed that he was choosing to do the lesser of two evils. It was either let Merle die or let him live and maybe even hurt his sister and others in camp. Dale wasn't telling him what he did was right and Bo wasn't looking for him to. Like Bo said, he just needed to tell someone.**

_**Leyshla Gisel: **_**If you were Bo, would you tell Daryl Dixon that you left his brother on a roof to be eaten alive? I wouldn't, especially if no one else knew... or I thought no one else knew.**

**Love you guys!**

**Lulu~**

* * *

The ride to Atlanta was dangerously quiet. Rick drove the moving van that they stole to get everyone back to the campsite. Daryl sat in the back with T-Dog and Evie, his eyes glaring ahead of him. No one wanted to talk around a man who was mourning his brother. The unbearable silence was ringing in Evie's ears. Once the ringing got too severe, she covered her ears and buried her face in her knees. Her eyes caught sight of the bruises on her arms that were already starting to surface. Unwillingly, her mind shifted from Merle to her and Bo's fight.

"_We're goin' back to get him." Rick's face was stone serious as Daryl's . "Goin' to get him and that bag of guns. We're takin' Glenn, T-Dog, and Daryl."_

"_I'll go too." Evie stepped up from behind her brother. Glenn nodded at Evie then turned his head to Rick._

"_Evie's fast. We've been on a couple of runs together. She's got a quiet weapon too, a katana." Rick glanced over at the young woman and jerked his head toward the van, but before Evie could take a step, Bo's hand stopped her._

"_No Evie. You're not going. There's no way I'm letting you go after that idiot." Bo's stomach churned at the thought of them finding the man he'd tried to get rid of. This couldn't be happening. The more he thought about it, the harder his grip got on his sister's arm. "You're staying in camp."_

_Evie jerked her arm away from him and looked at him incredulously. "Bo, I can't believe what you're saying. If you were lost, I'd want every person in this camp to help me find you. Plus, Merle found me in the woods and brought me to this camp. Maybe if I help him, we'll be square and he'll lay off me. And Daryl needs... us to help him."_

"_No! I'm not letting you go get yourself killed just because you're hot for some redneck douchebag!" Bo grabbed her forearms roughly and pulled her to him. His thumbs pushed deeply into her arms, causing her to wince in pain. _

"_Bo, you're hurting me." Evie breathed out as she struggled against him. Daryl took a half-step toward the pair, until he was stopped by Rick's voice._

"_Bo, let yer sister go. We need her to help us. We need all the quiet weapons we can get." Daryl made his way over to the truck with T-Dog and Glenn. Grabbing the top of the cab, he honked the horn with his foot, making everyone in the camp jump._

"_Come on!" _

"Evie? Did you hear me?" Rick looked back at her in the rear view mirror. Evie lifted her head up and shifted her eyes to him.

"Huh?"

Rick smiled and adjusted the mirror. "I said, are you ok?" She just nodded her head and glanced down at the floor of the truck. Of course she wasn't ok. Her forearms were bruised, her brother was mad at her, and she was on her way to an almost certain death situation to find a man that wanted nothing more than to abuse and humiliate her. She closed her eyes and swallowed her thoughts, only to discover when she opened her eyes that Daryl was staring right at her. His stare cut through her like a steel blade, making her shiver.

"Yer arms hurt?" his voice came out strong as ever. Nothing came to her mind to say. No words she could think of matched the question he had asked her.

"I'm fine." She squeaked out as the words finally surfaced in her brain. The truck jerked to a stop, lurching the ones in the back sideways. Rick turned in his seat.

"We're here."

* * *

"Why'd you come down here Bo? Shouldn't you be at camp with the rest of the men or catching frogs with Shane and Carl?" Jacqui picked up the bottle of laundry detergent that Glenn had brought back from one of his runs and pour a cap full into the basin the clothes were soaking in.

"Well, I figured that since Evie and you guys do my laundry all the time, I'd do it while she was away. Ya know, equal partnership and stuff." Bo shrugged his shoulders. He picked up the little basket full of clothes he and Evie had dirtied over the last two weeks and dumped it in another basin of water. Carol jumped up and rushed to his basin.

"No! Bo, you have to separate the dark colors from the lighter colors. Unless you _want_ pink underwear." The other women laughed as Carol quickly pulled the dripping articles from the tub. "God, Bo, who did your laundry when you lived at home? Evie?"

"No… my mom did it sometimes." His face fell as he plopped back down on the rock he was sitting on. Andrea smirked and looked over to him.

"You're such a boy."

* * *

"What is that?" Glenn gaped as Rick picked up an iron with remnants on it that looked like burnt-

"Skin. He cauterized the stump." Evie gagged remembering finding Merle's sawed off hand on the roof of the building. They'd made their way to the kitchen following Merle's path of dead and destruction of public property and office supplies. Rick examined the iron while Daryl smirked at the rest of the group.

"My brother's tha toughest son of a bitch I know. Feed 'im a hammer he'd crap out nails."

Evie grimaced at the sense of pride that Daryl felt for his brother. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find anything good about Merle. The part of her that wished he was dead was being beaten up by the part of her that was still guided by a moral compass when something caught her eye. "Why would he go outside?" Her curiosity peaked as she walked over to the broken window that led over to the fire escape. "Oh God." Rick came up behind her and looked over. A bloody rag was seated on the window sill. The both of them were taken back by Daryl gliding past them, trying to go out the window.

"Wait." Evie grabbed his shoulder. "You can't go out there."

Rick shook his head. "Evie's right. There's walkers all around this place." Daryl's eyes darkened as he glared at the officer.

"I'm not lettin' some dumb, dead bastard get in the way a' me findin' my brother."

"Oh yea?" Rick stood firm in front of him. "What about a thousand dumb, dead bastards?" Evie watched the men exchange glares then stepped in, moving her hand from his shoulder to his forearm.

"He's probably falling all over himself from blood loss. The walkers may already have him." A growl emanated from Daryl's throat as he pushed her hand off of him and grabbed the collar of her shirt.

"Don't say that. Don't you ever say that!" Evie's breathing quickened as he pinned her against the steel counter. Rick and the others drew their weapons into a ready position, threatening to use them if necessary. Reigning in her emotions, her face changed from fear to determination.

"Daryl. Let go."

"We're going to find him, Daryl." Glenn stepped toward the pair, trying to calm the situation. "Let's just make a plan."

* * *

"A lot of women use vibartors, Bo." Andrea cackled as she scrubbed a pair of jeans against a washboard. Bo chuckled and looked around at the women questioningly.

"Yea, Bo." Carol smiled quietly beside him. The entire group burst into laughter as Carol ducked her head, grinning slyly.

"Oh really?" Bo smirked over at Carol, causing her to blush and watch her laundry.

"What the hell are ya'll laughin' at?" Ed had miraculously found a way to get off his ass join the women and Bo by the shore of the quarry. Andrea squinted up at him and stood up.

"Just swappin' war stories, Ed." The man advanced until he was right in front of her, causing Bo to stand up on guard.

"This ain't no comedy club. You get back to work now, ya hear?" Ed pushed Carol's head down farther. Carol just nodded and continued her washing. "You need to learn yer place woman. Damn yer stupid."

"Hey!" Bo's hands balled into fists as he stepped around Carol to face her husband. He pushed the man backward. "You don't talk to people like that. Especially your wife."

"It's none a' your business, boy." Ed strode over the Bo, attempting to tower over him, but failing miserably as Bo was inches taller than him. Bo's eyes darkened as his face closed in on Ed's.

"If you put your hands on her again, it's my business."

"We've seen the bruises, Ed." Jacqui put her hands on her hips.

"You wanna see a bruise?" With that, Ed swung his fist, connecting it with Bo's cheek. Quickly recovering, the younger man tackled Ed to the ground. His mind turned blank and his eyes glazed over. The red that he saw blocked his vision from what he was doing. Muffled shouts made their way into his mind.

"Stop! Bo stop!"

He felt himself being jerked off of Ed by the back of his shirt, then arms wrap around his shoulders, putting him in a head lock.

"Calm down, buddy." Shane's voice called him out of his rush of anger and adrenaline. His breathing evened out as he calmed.

"I'm-I'm ok."

"You sure?" Shane asked before he let him go completely. Bo simply nodded his head. "Ok."

* * *

"So Daryl and I are going to cover Glenn while he gets the bag and Rick and T-Dog are going to cover us covering him?" Evie smiled at the little board that Glenn had drawn up. Glenn nodded and patted her back.

"Exactly."

The trio made their way down the alley way. Glenn looked back at Evie and Daryl.

"There are a lot of walkers out there. Evie come with me. Daryl stay in the alley." Daryl smirked over at Glenn.

"You got some balls for a Chinaman."

"I'm Korean." Glenn sighed as he and Evie ran into the street. Using her _katana_, Evie sliced through walkers one by one. When she and Bo were somewhere around Montgomery, and she was making her first supplies run by herself, her conscious changed. She looked in the eyes of the people, things, whatever they were, and killed them. It didn't bother her when she was doing it, but when it was over, when she was by herself, the truth consumed her. She killed people… and she was good at it. Whenever she killed one of the diseased, she had nightmares about being eaten alive by them. It was her mind punishing her, she was sure. Suddenly, a loud voice came from the alley where Daryl was. Glenn rushed to the bag, then to Daryl's aid. When they got to the alley, a multitude of voice surrounded them.

"They've got the bag! Grab them!" a man shouted with a Mexican accent. The man rushed Evie and Glenn, pushing Glenn to another man, who grabbed him and dragged him with Evie.

"Daryl!" Evie's shriek stayed in Daryl's mind even after the car the gang arrived in sped away. He staggered to his feet and rushed to the gate that separated him from the herd of walkers.

"Evie!" He shouted after the car and rattled the fence. His growled in anger as he turned around, something catching his eye. The boy that snuck up behind him and yelled for that gang was laying on the ground. The boy's eyes were wide and Daryl stalked over to him. Rick and T-Dog came running to the scene. Daryl's hand found its way to the boy's shirt as he lifted him up from the ground in a no so gentle way.

"Felipe!" The boy's voice cracked as Daryl covered his mouth with his hand.

"Yer comin' with us."

* * *

**Please review! I would really appreciate it. **


	7. The Wandering Army

I'm back. ya'll! I know that it's been a long time and I have been working on this chapter FOREVER, but I really hope you enjoy it. So, without further adieu, I would like to present the next chapter! I love you guys!

~Lulu

* * *

Dale and Bo sat on the top of the RV keeping watch. The heat of the day beat down on them without mercy. It didn't help that they were sitting on the metal roof of a van. The older man pressed the binoculars to his eyes and peered around the camp.

"What the hell?" Dale said softly causing Bo to look up at him. "Take a look at this, Bo." He patted the boy's shoulder with one hand and gave him the binoculars with the other. With them against his face, Bo swept the binoculars around the camp, trying to figure out what had Dale so freaked. He landed on a strange sight that took him back a bit. Jim, the man that primarily worked on the broken down RV, was up on top of a hill… digging. Putting the spyglasses down, Bo scurried down the ladder of the RV and nonchalantly hurried himself to Jim with Dale right behind him.

"Whatcha doin', Jim?" Dale asked when he caught up with the younger man. Jim didn't answer, he only kept digging. "You're gonna kill yourself out here." Bo looked around at the punctured ground around him. The holes Jim was digging didn't look like regular holes, they looked like graves. When they didn't get a response from the man, Bo and Dale ventured back down to camp.

"Hey, Dale!" Andrea called over to the pair of men walking to the group. The sisters had gone fishing with Dale's canoe and fishing gear and brought back a killing. "When's the last time you oiled those lines? They're a disgrace!" Her laughing voice was cut short by Dale's down cast face.

"I don't want to alarm anyone, but I think we have a problem on our hands."

* * *

Evie sat squeezed between Glenn and two other Mexican men. The man next to the the driver's seat was turned around, looking at their hostages. His eyes roamed over Evie, stopping on her _katana_.

"I like your sword, Chica." He smirked while the other men chuckled. Evie furrowed her brow, smirking back at him.

"Me too." Her lightning fast reflexes weren't enough as she tried to unsheathe the weapon, only to be met with a loaded gun in the face, actually three guns. The one in the passenger seat shook his head and tsked at her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…"

* * *

Rick, Daryl, and their little hostage made their way through a small courtyard that was going to lead them to the gang that took Evie and Glenn. T-Dog had gone to the roof of another to be a sniper if the occasion called for it. The boy told them about the leader of the gang, Guillermo, and where it was staying.

"Daryl, I know you want Evie back, but you gotta keep yer head about you." Rick spoke quietly holding his gun at the ready while he followed the boy.

"Whatever." Daryl grunt in response. His mood had significantly soured since Evie and Glenn had been kidnapped. He couldn't get his mind away from what could be happening to them. Well, mostly Evie. The men approached a group standing at what looked like a loading dock door guns ready to fire.

"So you're the guys who took Felipe's cousin?" A man stepped out of the crowd and stood in front of the men, his body looking completely relaxed. Rick tensed up even more as the man drew closer.

"You have two of ours. Let's talk about a trade."

The man, Guillermo, chuckled slightly and rubbed his hands together. "Ain't got no white boys. We got some Asian. Oh, and a white girl. But we might just have to keep her."

Daryl took a defensive half step toward the man causing everyone around him to tighten their grip on their firearms.

"Hold it, Daryl." Rick grunted. "A trade."

Guillermo turned his head toward Rick and narrowed his eyes. "Where's my guns, man?"

"What guns?" Daryl spat. His patience was running thin and Rick knew it. He glanced over to him warily but quickly cut his eyes back to Guillermo.

"The guns that the Vatos were going to get when your boy here attacked them." Guillermo nudged his head toward Daryl.

"Those are mine. I dropped them and we were going to get them back." Rick spoke as calmly as he could in this type of situation.

"They were in the street. They're fair game. You give me my guns and I'll give you back your people."

"Show us they're safe." Daryl growled. Guillermo stood in silence for a moment then barked a command and turned his attention to the roof of the broken down building. Daryl and Rick lifted up their eyes to see Evie and Glenn standing with two men behind them. Duct tape was wrapped over their mouths and wrists and the men's arms were wrapped around their waists.

"Evie!" Daryl yelled up to her. He heard her grunt and watched her rear up and knock the man behind her in the nose with the back of her head. Her attempts to be released were in vain however as the man punched her in the same spot that assaulted his face, making her brown haired head fall forward in pain.

Rick grabbed the back of a thrashing Daryl's shirt and pulled him backward. "We'll talk it over."

* * *

The sound of the hot metal shovel piercing the soil was the only sound Bo could hear as he approached Jim. A small group that included Shane followed him.

"What's up, Jim?" Shane sighed as he took his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair. Jim stopped shoveling and looked up at Shane.

"I'm just minding my own business. Is that a crime?" Shane shook his head. Sweat poured from Jim's head as he too took his hat off. Lori stepped from behind Bo and put her hands on her hips.

"Well if no one else is gonna say it, I will. You're scaring us, Jim. You're scaring the kids." Jim wiped his forehead and waved his hat at the group.

"Look, why don't you all just go back about your business?"

"You know we can't do that, Jim." Shane shook his head. The heat was so intense on top of the hill that Bo felt like he was going to burn alive. How was Jim sustaining without drinking water? Bo was snatched away from his thoughts by Jim swinging a shovel at Shane. The deputy ducked and tackled the heated man to the ground, yelling for Bo to help him. Jim screamed words he had strung together that didn't make sense, but that was just the heat talking. The two men held Jim's hands behind his back as he jerked and bucked.

"You have no right!" Jim thrashed his head around as he was forced down the hill . Bo couldn't help but feel bad for him. Anyone could get affected by the heat, but why, Bo wondered, would he dig so many grave-like holes? Bo pushed the question out of his deciding that he really didn't want to know the answer.

* * *

Evie lifted herself from the hospital bed and took the Advil that Guillermo was handing her.

"Sorry about the hit to the head. It's just that when you break someone's nose, you kinda expect them to retaliate." The girl grimaced at Guillermo and looked over at the large man next to her holding an ice pack to his face.

"I'm sorry, Marco. I would have never-"

The man smiled around his pack and waved his hand at her. "It's a'ight, Lil' Mama."

The Mexican gang had turned out to not be a bad group of men. The building they were hulled up in was actually a nursing home and the men were workers or family of the elderly that lived there. The walls that were once a bright white were now a dingy grey and the usually clean floors were scuffed from lack of waxing. Evie's heart jumped when she thought that she could actually be in the same place as her grandmother. Bo and her made the trip from north Alabama to see her and she'd be damned if she was leaving without trying to find her.

"Guillermo.." she whispered, "Do you know of a Mrs. Pratt? She may be a resident here." She couldn't bear the disappointment of her grandmother not being alive or no one knowing where she was. The sight of the man nodding his head almost brought tears to her brown eyes.

"Mrs. Pratt. She's a tough lady. Said you were coming and refused to go until you go here." The girl cocked her head to the side questioningly.

"Go?"

* * *

Bo placed the metal cup against Jim's lips and tilted it slightly. He pulled it back when he heard a solid gulp from Jim's throat. Shane had cuffed Jim's hands behind his back and put him underneath a tree so the shade could cool him off.

"Better?" Bo dipped the cup into a bucket and stared at Jim cautiously. The older man nodded his head.

"Yea. Can I have some more?" Bo complied and brought the cup back up to Jim's mouth. Jim drank his fill and looked over at Carl, Sophia, and their moms. Lori tried not to, but he glanced over at Jim and made eye contact. "I'm sorry that I scared your boy."

"No one's blaming you. Sun got to ya." Her words spoke forgiveness but her tone spoke louder. She turned her head and immediately went back to her teaching Carl.

"You're not scared anymore, are ya?" Jim lifted his head more to view the children. Sophia looked over at him.

"No sir."

Jim nodded and leaned back against the tree. Bo raised the cup a third time so Jim could hydrate himself, but it seemed that the man was not through with his conversation.

"You worried about your dad?"

Carl looked up this time and nodded slightly.

"Well don't you worry son, you're father's a police officer. He's strong as an ox."

Lori rubbed the back of Carl's neck and pulled him closer to her. "We're trying not to think about that."

* * *

Glenn stood outside the door of Evie's grandmother's room. He felt like he shouldn't leave her alone with the men around. Actually, he felt like Daryl would kill him if she got hurt while he was around.

"Glenn, it's my grandmother. She can't get out of bed. What's she gonna do? Throw her television remote at me?" Evie gripped the door frame, looking at her friend. Glenn shifted on his feet and looked up at the ceiling. Evie rolled her eyes. "Look, if she gets frisky, I'll call ya, ok Tiger?" With that, she closed the door forcefully and turned to face the matriarch of her family.

"Nana?" She called softly. Her eyes scanned over the woman she loved so much. The woman's long grey hair was braided down her back. Her eyes that were once a bright hazel were dulled. Her smile wrinkled her face even more as she greeted her granddaughter.

"My Eve. My beautiful Eve. I knew you were coming." Nana's voice was soft but withered from age. "I felt it. I prayed to God every night and He told me you were on the move and safe." Evie crossed the room quickly and fell to her knees at the bedside. Her young hands cupped the wrinkled hand in front of her. The room was once decorated with flowers in vases, but now the flowers were dead and lifeless. Sunshine streamed through the cracks in the boarded window. Evie wished so hard that this could have been a different circumstance, but the present was the present.

"I'm so happy to see you, Nana. You look so beautiful." Evie brought her grandmother's hand up to her lips and kissed it. Nana looked down at her with a gleam in her eye and held up a finger.

"I know what happens when we die." Evie let the hand fall from her lips and to the bed. "Do you know, my Eve?" Of course. She'd heard it since she was a little girl.

"When we die, Nana, we go to be with Jesus." Evie heard a light chuckle and then a sigh.

"Yes, but do you know what happens to our Earthly bodies?"

The girl titled her head, thinking, but finally shook it lightly. The grandmother clutched her granddaughter's hand. "It becomes one of the Wandering Army. I've seen it. I'm leaving soon, Eve. I'm going to become apart of the Army."

Evie shook her head, not understanding the woman's words. "Nana, do you want me to stay here with you? I can live here and take care of you."

"I'm old, Eve. I've lived for a very long time. You haven't. Go with your friends. Live the life God has given you." Nana leaned down and kissed her forehead and whispered, "It's not a mistake."

"I love you so much, Nana." Tears fell freely down the twenty year old's face. She never wanted to leave the moment.

"I love you too, my Eve. Tell Bo that I love him too. Oh, and that older women are perfectly fine."

Evie looked questioningly at the woman and nodded. "O…k."

* * *

Please review! I would really love to hear some feedback about the story. Am I getting the character's personalities right? Am I gramarically correct? Anything!


	8. Much Ado About Change

**Ok so, I hope everyone watched and enjoyed the Season 3 premiere of the Walking Dead! I know this is moving really slowly, BUT it's gonna be going faster!**

**Seriously, I'm like obsessed with my reviewers that review every chapter. Every time I get a little notice on my phone I'm like "Oh man! (So and so) just reviewed my story! I love them!" and my friends are like "Shut up." So whatever! I'm in a really good mood and I'm praying for a really cold Alabama winter, so yeah. **

**Please to enjoy the next chapter of Just Hold On!**

**Lulu~**

* * *

With every step Evie took, her ankle stiffened even more. Her arm was thrown over Glenn's and T-Dogg's shoulders for support as they walked up the steep hillside. Rick led the way while Daryl brooded close by him. They had been walking for about an hour in the hot Georgia sun. After Daryl, Rick, and T-Dogg showed up to rescue them, they walked back to where they had left the van, but, surprise, no van. The popular belief was that Merle had taken it and was trucking back to camp to take his revenge. Now, the little crew was hoofing it. What had taken only thirty minutes by car was taking an hour and a half by foot.

"Stop! Stop, I can't put any weight on it anymore." Evie groaned as the men lowered her to a sitting position on the ground. Her hands travelled down her leg to the wrappings around her ankle. After running so much in the city, her ankle had stiffened and swollen.

"Come on. You can ride no my back." T-Dogg pulled one of her arms and wrapped it around his neck. She pulled her body up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He took a minute and adjusted before continuing with the hike.

"Thanks, T-Dogg." Evie said quietly. He nodded at her and the group went on in silence. She could see Daryl glare back at her and T-Dogg every now and then. Her heart dropped every time his eyes met hers and he would jerk his head away. He hadn't talked to her since he came to rescue her at the nursing home.

_After she met with her grandmother, Evie stood in the hallway with her arms cross and tried to comprehend what the hell her grandmother was talking about. Running her hands through her hair, she decided not to put too much stock in the ramblings. She did love her grandmother, but she was 87. She pushed off from the wall and began her journey to Glenn, but was stopped, literally, in her tracks by an intense, all too familiar pain._

"_Dammit." She grunted as she dropped to one knee and untied her boot. The swollen skin met her eyes. "Jose!" She called out. The male nurse rushed around the corner and knelt by her._

"_What's- damn!" he gasped as his fingers grazed the skin. His arm reached around her and grasped her shoulder, pulling her up. "I need to take you to the examination room. Come on, Evie."_

_Her dark hair sprawled out behind her as she layed on the white bed. She grunted as Jose repositioned her foot to be straight up in front of him so he could get to the ankle more easily. He examined the injury for a few seconds before opening a metal drawer and pulling out a thick mass of white gauze and a small roll of medical tape. _

"_I see you've done this before." Evie raised her eyebrows playfully as he wrapped a strip of gauze tightly around her ankle and foot. _

"_You too." Jose chuckled and taped the gauze. "All done. I don't know what's wrong with it, but at least you can limp on it now."_

_Evie sat up. "Thanks, Jose." His eyes rose up to meet hers as they both smiled. _

"_Don't mention it, Lil' Mama." One of his arms circled her shoulders in a friendly hug causing Evie to wrap hers around his neck._

"_Evie?" A voice called from the doorway. The voice startled Jose and Evie making them jump apart. Evie turned her head quickly, meeting the person's eyes. A smile erupted from her face as soon as she got a glimpse of his blue eyes and dirty blonde hair, but Daryl didn't return the sentiment. His face was set in a hard frown._

"_Daryl." She pushed herself off of the bed, with Jose's help, and stumbled over to the man. Her arms threw themselves over his shoulders as she pulled herself closer to him. His body tensed as soon as her chest touched his. _

"_They're waitin' on us." His words had little feeling, but when he pushed her away from him, it said it all. As he walked down the hallway, Evie stared after him flabbergasted. He just rescued her and now he was treating her like a walker. _

_Daryl walked ahead of Evie, trying to put as much space in between them as possible. Seeing her with the Mexican turned his blood to fire. Merle's voice clawed at the back of his mind._

"_I told you, Darylina. That girl don't love you. She's gonna fuck anything with a dick. You ain't special." The voice of his brother grew louder and louder as he neared Rick and the others. When he heard Evie's footsteps get closer and closer, his head felt like it would explode. He wanted to tear his heart out of his chest, but then cussed himself for being such a pussy. "Why don't you grow a dick a stop whining?"_

"_Daryl?" Rick nudged his friend with his elbow. Daryl glared over at him and nodded._

"_Let's go, man."_

"Why won't he talk to me?" Evie grumbled in T-Dogg's ear. The sweat off of his shoulders made her arms slip occasionally while they walked. She saw the back of his head move from side to side.

"I dunno. I never knew what's goin' on with that –"

"Hey! How about less talkin' more walkin'." Daryl called back to the back of the group. At that, Evie let out an audible sigh.

Night began to fall as the little group hiked back to camp. Evie had switched to Rick's back because T-Dogg was exhausted.

"How much farther?" Glenn drug his feet behind the group. Evie turned her head and grinned at him.

"Oh come on, Glenn. I'm not even tired." Rick's back rumbled with light laugher at her comment. Ahead of the group, Daryl stopped instantly. His hand was up in the air, signaling for the others to halt. The hairs on the back of Rick's neck stood up beneath Evie's fingers causing fear to flare up in her stomach.

"What's-" "Shh!" Glenn was cut short by Daryl.

"No!" Shrill screams cut straight to the core of them. Evie's fingers curled around Rick's shoulders as she breathed out.

"The camp."

* * *

Bo pushed Sophia behind him as he swung the heavy ax into the skull of a walker that staggered toward him.

"Get to your mother! Get behind me!" His words turned into hollers as he lifted the ax over his head again. Carol, Lori, and the children huddled into a circle as the men surrounded them. Walkers stumbled around the camp, tearing and clawing at the group. Bo's mind raced as he and Shane moved together in unison. He felt himself scream his sister's name over and over again. Any moment he expected to be crushing the head of her infected body. A small leap of joy came from his heart with every walker he killed that wasn't her. Then it came. A young woman with long brown hair pulled up in a ponytail growled toward him. Bitter cries came from his lips as he lowered his ax, watching the girl he thought was his sister.

"Evie!" His mouth opened once more and let out a bitter wail. The light ax felt as though it weighed a thousand pounds. He let the weapon swing down and spilt open the forehead of the lady walker.

"Bo!" A voice pierced his ears. Sweat glossed over his eyes as he looked around for the origin. Arms gripped his shoulders causing him to flail his body. "Bo stop! It's me!"

The sudden realization raised his heart again. He pulled the person to his chest, almost crushing them with the force.

"Bo, you're squeezing me to death!" Evie struggled against her brother, pushing off of him. He untangled himself from her, pressing his lips to her forehead. Before Evie could say anything, an arrow whizzed past her head and into one of a walker.

"Why don't you two catch up later?" Daryl stalked over to the walker and ripped the arrow form its soft skull.

* * *

The gruff roar of the pick-up truck grumbled underneath Evie as she rode with Daryl and her brother down the highway. She sat in the middle of them on the bench seat. A migraine pounded in her head while her ankle throbbed with stiffness. That morning was probably the worst morning of her life. She had vomited until her stomach had nothing left to offer up. The smell of death and sweat covered her and everyone else's being. Her index finger and thumb squeezed the bridge of her nose, trying to erase the pain and the memories of the morning. The hilt of her _katana_ stuck up and leaned on Bo's knee while the ax Bo used lay right beside it. He hadn't let the ax out of his sight since last night. It gave him comfort. The twins' backpacks were tossed in the bed of the truck along with Daryl's bag and Merle's motorcycle.

"How much longer to the CDC?" Evie rolled her head to look at Daryl who returned the question with a shrug. Her eyebrows furrowed as she let out a loud sigh and leaned over on her brother's shoulder.

"Go to sleep, Eve. We'll be there soon." Her brother grumbled as she moved her head to the crook of his neck. When he felt her breathing even out, Bo glared over at Daryl.

"I need to know that you can take care of her." Bo's stare was unwavering. "I need to know you can take over if I die." Daryl cut his eyes over at the young man. He looked to be mulling something over in his head.

"She ain't my problem."

"You love her. She is your problem. You say otherwise, you're lying to yourself." Bo raised his voice slightly in anger, but lowered when Evie shifted on his shoulder. Daryl cocked his head to the side, his tongue clicking on his teeth. His hand gripped the wheel as he straightened his shoulders then slumped again.

"She ain't my problem.

* * *

_Rain dripped off of the tree limbs and hit Evie on the head with such force that it felt as though she was being hit with small rocks. The dark sky was blocked by the tops of the thick forest trees. Her clothes weighed her down as she tried to maneuver around the trunks of the trees that blocked her path. Soft crunches of twigs around her made her lift her head in alarm._

"_Hello?" her hand reflexively flew over her shoulder to the hilt of her katana, but grabbed nothing but air. A sharp crack of a twig behind her made her skin crawl with fear. She turned quickly to see the ripped flesh of her mother's face. Stumbling backward from shock, her back knocked into something solid_. _Hesitantly, her body turned itself. Her mind refused to let her believe that the thing in front of her was her brother. White eyes, dangerously pale skin, mouth agape._

_A noise escaped her throat that she was all too familiar with. The scream was a mixture of pain and horror. The screams multiplied as her family members sank their teeth into her flesh. The salty rain sprayed down on her, assaulting her wounds and filling her open mouth. _

"_Evie!" Bo's walker body growled her name as it chewed into her tender shoulder._

"Evie. Evie!" Bo jerked his shoulder, making his sister's head fall forward and hit the radio.

"Oh my God! Bo! What the hell?" she rubbed the tender spot on her forehead that was beginning to form a lump. Daryl snorted from the driver's seat and pointed up and to the right.

"We're here."

* * *

The group seemed to be shrinking every day. When they got into the CDC, Bo realized how small they had actually gotten. He thought they weren't going to make it in, but when the walkers were closing in on them, someone inside the building lifted the gate to freedom.

Jenner, the doctor, decided that he had a heart after all and let them enter. Why were they at the CDC, you may ask, good question. Bo was wondering that very same thing. Rick wanted answers but Bo knew how the government worked with things like this. No one said anything to anyone, not even in the event of the end of the world.

"I'll let you stay on one condition, a blood test, from all of you." Jenner spoke to the group matter-of-factly. "I'm not taking any chances." And that was it.

Everyone sat in a big room and waited for their chance to get some blood taken from their bodies. Bo rested his hand on Evie's arm protectively. When it was her turn to go, she faltered. Jenner stood quickly causing Rick and the other men to tense. Daryl and Bo stood ready for whatever was going to happen. Jenner scanned the room, noticing the uneasiness.

"Are you bitten?" He simply said. Some of them turned their head to Evie waiting her response, even though they knew the answer. She looked around and shook her head.

"N-No. Just hurt my ankle."

"Really?" Jenner motioned her toward him. "Why don't I just check it out myself?"

Evie pushed herself against the chair, lifting her leg into Jenner's lap. His fingers unwrapped the tightly wound gauze and put it off to the side. Evie gritted her teeth as he pushed his fingertips into her skin. He flexed her foot causing her to grunt in pain.

"Sorry." Jenner said quietly. He moved his hands up her leg, squeezing it for sensitive spots. When he didn't stop moving up her leg when he hit the top of her knee cap, Daryl banged his hand on one of the desks.

"That's enough checkin', Doc. Take her blood."

Jenner slowly held his hands in the air, as if he was being directed by police. "Ok, ok. Calm down." He picked up a needle and tube from the table and stuck her arm. "Your ankle didn't heal correctly. It's just going to do that. There's really nothing to do about it but wrap it tightly in gauze."

Evie nodded before standing up and staggering to a seat.

"I bet you're all hungry." Jenner mused glancing over the crowd in front of him.

* * *

Bo pulled a chair out and plopped down beside Carol and Sophia. His plate was filled with meat and potatoes. It wasn't the best food, but the wine he had numbed the taste. Evie shot him a warning glare which he ignored.

If you were looking at the group without knowing their circumstance, you might think they were just friends gathering for dinner and drinks. Laugher rang out in the cafeteria as well as the sound of contented chomping of powdered foods. Evie's eye grazed over Shane's frowning face. How, she thought, in the midst of all the joy, could he be so miserable? Following his gaze, she suddenly understood. Lori was completely ignoring him. He knew that when Rick showed up again that he would be Lori's husband again… right?

"Ahhh…" Bo stretched his arms out and curled his fingers in Evie's face. "Do you know how long it's been since I've played a guitar?"

"You play the guitar?" Dale took a sip of his wine and leaned back in his chair. "I never pegged you as a musician."

"There's one around here somewhere." Jenner walked around to the couch area of the cafeteria and picked up a large object.

"Oh yeah, that's nice." Bo sighed as he strummed the strings, tuning them to the correct pitch. "Oh my God, when's the last time someone played this?" He looked over at Jenner who wore a stern look. "Oh, yeah, that's right…"

The instrument let out a long string of notes before Bo turned his head to Evie. "Sing that song mom sang." She rolled her eyes.

"No one wants to hear me sing."

"I do." Sophia piped up beside Carol. She clutched her doll and sat up in her seat to look at Evie better. Bo gave Evie a knowing look and strummed out the bridge of the songs before going into the verse.

"Ok, ahem." Evie giggled, gathering her confidence and let out a deep sigh. "No New Year's Day to Celebrate,

No chocolate covered candy hearts to give away

No first of spring

No song to sing

In fact here's just another ordinary day

No April rain

No flowers bloom

No wedding Saturday within the month of June

But what it is, is something true

Made up of these three words that I must say to you

I just called to say I love you

I just called to say how much I care

I just called to say I love you

And I mean it from the bottom of my heart

No summer's high

No warm July

No harvest moon to light one tender August night

No autumn breeze

No falling leaves

Not even time for birds to fly to southern skies

No Libra sun

No Halloween

No giving thanks to all the Christmas joy you bring

But what it is, though old so new

To fill your heart like no three words could ever do

I just called to say I love you

I just called to say how much I care, I do

I just called to say I love you

And I mean it from the bottom of my heart"

Silence penetrated the room as Evie whispered the last note. Her mother would sing that song when she washed the dishes at night. The twins would share a chair to stand on and dry the bowls and cups. To them, nothing could compare to their mother's voice sweetly singing.

"That was really pretty, Evie." Carl yawned from beside his mother. Evie smiled over at the young boy.

"Thanks, buddy."

* * *

Nothing ever felt as glorious as the shower Evie took. The warm water and soap and shampoo and cleanness overwhelmed her poor deprived body that she could hardly stand it.

"Eve Margarette Pratt! Get out of the freaking bathroom! I want to shower!" Bo banged his fist on the door repeatedly until he heard the water cut off. Moments later, Evie opened the door to reveal herself in one of his shirts and boxers.

"I'm out, douche!"

"Good!" He placed his hand on the back of her head and pushed her out of the bathroom door before sliding behind her and slamming the door.

The hallways of the dorm were dead. No one was venturing out of their rooms at all. Evie walked quietly down the hall into the game room that Jenner told them about earlier.

"You stay away from us." Her ears picked up on an argument in the room. She peeked her head around the corner to see Shane and Lori face to face. Her eyes widened as Shane picked Lori up by her hips and grind against her, only to be met with a sharp slap to the face.

"Lori," Evie stepped out into the doorway, making herself know. "Is something wrong here?"

"No, Evie. I was just leaving." Lori pushed her way past Evie as did Shane and made their way to their rooms. Shaking off the moment, she made her way over to the book shelf. _War And Peace, Moby Dick, The Biography of Abraham Lincoln,… Twilight?_ Obviously she was not going to be reading during her stay. She dropped to a knee to look at all the board games. Chess, Candyland, Checkers, Clue. She picked up the Chess box, deciding to play with Bo, and started to make her way back to her room.

"Hey!" Someone yelled at her from down the hallway. She turned sharply to see Daryl motioning for her from four doors down. Rolling her eyes she sat the box beside her door and obliged Daryl. By the time she made it to his door, he had retreated back into the room, causing her to follow. Once she was in, he slammed the door behind her.

"Wha do you… wha do you think yer doin'?" Daryl slurred at her waving his wine bottle in the air.

"You're drunk." She grunted, pushing her way around him. The hand that wasn't holding the bottle clutched her arm tightly. "Daryl!"

"What! What! Evie!" He pulled her so close to him she could smell the wine from his breath. "You think I love you? Well I don't! I don't love nobody!"

"Daryl." She breathed. "Stop." She moved her hand to the one of his that was attached to her arm. Once their hands touched, however, he pushed her away violently.

"You don't know a damn thing, woman!"

Evie stood in the middle of the room staring at the drunk man in front of her. Her heart broke for this man. "Daryl, do you want to know something?" His silence gave her permission to continue. "Every time I try to get close to you, you push me away. Why can't you just let yourself be happy? Why can't you trust me?"

She moved toward him, her hands moved over the grooves of his back, down across his sides, and up to his chest, bringing his back against her breast. Leaning her head on his back, she felt his hand clutch hers.

After she had absorbed all the tenderness she could from the moment, a whisper escaped her lips, "Daryl, look at me."

The man turned, chest to chest with her. Even though her hands were callused and hardened, they felt like silk against Daryl's skin. His hand gripped her side as though she was the only thing keeping him from leaving Earth. She slid her hand to the back of his neck, pulling him downward to her. Closing her eyes, her breath hitched as his lips twitched lightly against hers. The kiss wasn't deep or overly passionate, but it couldn't have been any better. Finally, Daryl's drunk side took over and he became greedy. His kiss became hard and overbearing, but Evie redirected him to a gentle lover's peck. She slid out of his grip and walked to the door.

"Good night, Daryl." Her voice was different, softer than before, but somehow it fit. Watching her close the door behind her, Daryl lay back on his bed, contemplating.

"_Well, Daryl. You got yerself a good girl. She's a nice girl." _The voice inside his head was his own now. Merle had gone away and he was left all alone. All alone with a brand new family. And Evie.

"G'night, Evie."

* * *

**I hope you liked it! Review and stuff, please! Pretty please with Reedus on top ;)**


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